‘No bow, and no human rights discussion’

The president didn’t bow to the king of Saudi Arabia – an act captured by television cameramen and news photographers – or raise the issue of human rights when he was shaking the king’s hand, according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Gibbs, at the daily presidential press briefing today, confirmed the White House’s account of the encounter at the G20 summit in London.

Les Kinsolving, WND’s correspondent at the White House, asked, “After whatever it was he did with the king of Saudi Arabia – did he ask or does he know about The National Review report that a 23-year-old Saudi Arabian woman has been sentenced to a year in jail and 100 lashes because, having been gang-raped and impregnated, she tried to obtain an abortion?”

Gibbs said, “I have not discussed – I don’t know if the president is aware of that.”

According to London’s Daily Mail, a Saudi judge ordered the woman to jail for a year and to get 100 lashes for being attacked.

The report on the case in Saudi Arabia, which operates under strict Islamic Shariah religious law that leaves woman without many rights, said the woman accepted a ride from a man who took her home, where she was attacked by five men throughout the night.

The woman, according to the judge in district Court in Jeddah, now is guilty of adultery.

She will be jailed until she has the child, then will be flogged, then probably returned to jail, authorities said.

Another reporter previously raised the question of the bow to the Saudi Arabian leader, an issue on which WND reported.

The question was, “Did he bow or didn’t he?”

Said Gibbs, “Well, I think he bent over with both – to shake with both hands to shake his hand. So I don’t. …”

“It appears to show one hand, that he was just …” the reporter continued.

“Well, I …” said Gibbs.

“Did he bow or didn’t he?” the reporter said.

“No. But I think this meeting was like a week ago, right?” said Gibbs.

“That’s right, but this is something that a lot of people are still talking about today,” noted the reporter.

“”I can only imagine it is of great cause and concern for many people struggling with the economy,” said Gibbs.

When WND first reported the bow, Clarice Feldman wrote in an American Thinker commentary she was “quite certain that this is not the protocol, and is most unbecoming a president of the United States.”

In this first image, after the king extended his hand while Obama approached, Obama bends from the waist until his head is nearly at the monarch’s waist:

President Obama’s bow to Saudi king

In a second image, Obama has straightened up and is exchanging remarks with the Saudi leader:

Obama speaks briefly with Saudi king after bowing

Video by a television crew was posted on YouTube. The bow comes at about 50 seconds into the video:

The action appeared especially awkward since among the dozens of world leaders and their spouses, handshakes abounded. There appeared to be no other bowing in the room.

The U.S. State Department’s office of protocol, in a statement attributed to acting chief of protocol Gladys Blouda, confirmed the type of greeting between heads of state depends on the customs of the countries, but a handshake is the most common form of greeting.

The online Travel Etiquette website for Saudi Arabia said handshakes are common greetings between members of the same sex.

“You should expect to undertake a considerable amount of small talk, and learning a few Arabic greetings would be well received. Saudis will stand closer to each other than many westerners are used to, and members of the same sex will often touch arms when postulating or emphasizing a point. You should not draw away from this as it would be considered rude and rejecting. Be aware that due to the conservative nature of Saudi Arabian society, it is not considered proper etiquette for men and women to greet each other in public,” the site advises.

“It is proper etiquette to refer to a royal as Your Highness, and any members of the government ministries as Your Excellency,” it said.

Many of the proper procedures for meeting royalty are set by the British monarchy, since its members carry probably the highest royal profile around the world today.

The website for the British queen advises men who are from the United Kingdom to provide a neck bow (from the head only) “whilst women do a small curtsy. Other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way.”

“On presentation to The Queen, the correct formal address is ‘Your Majesty’ and subsequently ‘Ma’am’,” the site advises.

ABC reported Obama and his wife, Michelle, were less formal meeting Queen Elizabeth II earlier this week, when they exchanged handshakes. The queen briefly touched Michelle Obama on the back, and she returned the contact.

Pundits were surprised, since in 1992 Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating was criticized when he put his arm around the queen in violation of a general “no-touch” rule regarding royalty.

But the traditional Miss Manners book of etiquette advises: “One does not bow or curtsy to a foreign monarch because the gesture symbolizes recognition of her power over her subjects.”

Jamie Glazov, the author of “United in Hate,” said Obama’s act actually was to be expected.

“And people don’t know what’s going on here? Are we kidding?” he said. “This is simply the continuation of fellow traveling. It’s to be totally expected. Leftists have prostrated themselves before despots throughout history – during the whole Cold War and now vis-à-vis jihadists in the terror war. ‘United in Hate’ crystallizes with precision how and why this dark process occurs.”

He cited the Obamas’ less formal interaction with the queen earlier.

“Obviously, the queen does not wield totalitarian power and does not mete out sadistic punishment – with which a believer yearns to identify. The Saudi king, meanwhile, is a tyrannical entity to which Obama can subjugate his individuality – and through which he can vicariously experience a feeling of power and purpose. This is the process of negative identification that every leftist must practice and that ‘United in Hate’ documents is at the heart of every leftist’s main driving force,” he said.

In a second question, Kinsolving asked about the controversy over the upcoming visit by Obama, a supporter of virtually unrestricted abortion rights, to Notre Dame, a school of the pro-life Catholic Church.

“The Cardinal Newman Society at Notre Dame reports one quarter of a million signatures on its petition asking the president not speak and receive a degree at the May 17th commencement, and they are joined by 19 Catholic bishops, including Cardinal George of Chicago and now 10 clergy of the Holy Cross order that runs Notre Dame. And my question: Has it occurred to the president how gracious it would be for him to politely withdraw rather than cause what will undoubtedly be even more protests, including demonstrations and possibly walkouts?” asked Kinsolving.

“The president accepted the gracious invitation, looks forward to speaking and sharing a very important reflection and time of achievement for the graduates of Notre Dame, and hopefully the fight song won’t be on anybody’s cell phone ringer that day,” said Gibbs.

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